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Child abuse victim and former England international Paul Stewart broken down on live TV after revealing he’d endured his ‘hardest week in a long, long time’.

Earlier this week Stewart followed the lead of former Crewe footballers Andy Woodward and Steve Walters, as well as ex-Manchester City forward David White, by telling their stories of the harrowing sexual abuse they suffered as children, attempting to become professional sportsmen.

‘I’ve suffered for a long time,’ he told This Morning’s Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes. ‘I was inspired by Andy Woodward – he was the first to come out [with the allegations]. I was worried that his story may fade into insignificance if he didn’t get any support from anyone,’ the former Liverpool and Spurs man added.

‘After soul-searching and speaking to my family, I decided to tell my story.’

Paul Stewart played 32 times for Liverpool after his £2.3million transfer. (Picture: EMPICS)

‘This past week has probably been the most difficult in a long, long time,’ the 52-year-old continued. ‘I never thought I would ever be able to speak about it.’

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Stewart went on to pay homage to Woodward, the first man to publicly tell the story of how he was abused and tormented by former Crewe coach and youth football scout Barry Bennell.

‘I don’t think I would have been the first to speak about it [if it wasn’t for Andy Woodward],’ he said. ‘I just believed for me it was the right thing to do.

Paul Stewart told his story to This Morning. (Picture: ITV)

The former England international spoke bravely about the abuse. (Picture: ITV)

The former England man was then asked about how the decision to speak publicly had impacted his family: ‘We haven’t sat down as a family to talk about it but they keep using words like ‘hero’ and ‘proud’.

‘I’d like to say that my family are the heroes,’ he said while wiping away the tears.

‘It’s hard but please don’t be afraid to come out,’ Stewart said in a message to others who may have been a victim of abuse.

Stewart made over 100 appearances for Spurs (Picture: Getty)

Following the string of claims by former footballers, the NSPCC confirmed that over 50 people had called an abuse helpline within two hours of it being set up which prompted presenters to ask if Mr Stewart if he thought paedophile rings functioned in the sport.

‘It wouldn’t surprise me… I was told [about other abuse] like it was the norm,’ he added.